Cigar-cutting attachment for lead-pencils



(No Mbdel.)

M. SCHOTT. CIGAR GUTTING'ATTAGHMBNT FOR LEAD PBNGILS.

No. 572,452. Patented Dec. 1, 1896;

Q? J Q 19 mm: 1 7M UNITED STATES- PATENT OFFICE.

MATHILDE SOHOTT, OF BROOKLYN, NElV YORK.

CIGAR-CUTTING ATTACHMENT FOR LEAD-PENCILS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 572,452, dated December 1, 1896.

' Application filed June 12, 1895. Serial No. 552,568. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, MATHILDE ScHoTT, a

citizen of the United States, residing at Brooklyn, Kings county, State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Cigar Outting Attachments for Lead-Pencils, of which the following is a specification. This invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in cigar-cutters and it consists, substantially,in such features of construction, arrangement, and combinations of parts as will hereinafter be more particularly described.

This invention is intended more particularly as an attachment to be fitted to the end of a lead-pencil, penholder, pocket-knife, or the like, and while I am aware that attachments for a similar purpose have been heretofore devised it is the intention and object of my invention to provide a device which-is very simple and cheap to manufacture, and one which requires no special tools to make and which can be conveniently carried in the pocket. A great many former devices are exceedingly cumbersome to carry, and besides the cutters do not satisfactorily perform their work, and in some instances only a very small portion of a cigar-tip can be cut off or severed, owing to the restricted diameter of the opening through which the end of the cigar is inserted. Other disadvantages attendant upon some former constructions are that they soon become clogged up with small particles of tobacco, are difficult to keep in working order, and are very apt to become twisted or distorted while being carried in the pocket. These objections are overcome by my improved construction of device or attachment, substantially as will more fully hereinafter appear when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a perspective View of my improved cigar-cutting attachment as appliedor fitted to the end of a lead-pencil, the said view clearly representing the form of tipopening and indicating the cutter or blade partially open. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sec tional View taken about centrally through. Fig. 3 is a front View of the attachment in detail and showing the erasing-rubber dispensed with. Fig. 4 is a side view of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a detail plan view of the knife or cutter,showin g its double cutting edge. Fig. 6 is a detail side View thereof, showing a modification of the means by which the knife is operated within the slot of the tube; and Fig. 7 is an end View thereof.

In carrying my invention into effect I employ a tube 1, of any suitable metal, which is of such size or restricted diameter as will fit the end of any ordinary lead-pencil, the tube being also preferably split at 2 for a short distance from one end, so as to cause the tube to fit the pencil tightly, this being a common form or construction as employed in various forms of pencil attachments.

In the upper end of the tube 1 I insert a rubber tip or eraser 3for convenience, but in some instances it may be desirable to dispense with such tip and employ the construction such, for instance, as is indicated in Fig. 3. The said tube 1 is formed or provided with an opening 5 for the reception of the tip or smaller end of a cigar, and sliding within the tube across the opening is a knife or cutter 6, which, as shown at 7 is pointed or arrow-shaped at its outer end, the two converging sides 8 thereof being ground to an edge or sharpened, so as to sever the cigartips by a shearing cut as the knife is pushed outwardly across the opening by the thumb or finger of the operator. Said knife can be constructed to be guided in the tube in various ways. Thus in Figs. 1 to 4 I form in one side of the tube an elongated opening or slot 10, which is of a length sufficient to permit the necessary outward movement of the knife, as well as to enable the said knife to be drawn back completely within the tube and be thereby protected from injury. The knife in this instance is guided in the slot by means of a pin 12, one end of which is inserted in an opening in the inner end of the knife and then flattened or upset at 13, while the outer end of said pin is fastened at 14 in any suitable manner, as by a solder, to a thumbeplate 15, which preferably is of a width and length sufficient for the ball of the thumb or finger to bear upon in the act of pushing the plate back and forth to operate the knife. Preferably the outer surface of said plate is milled or roughened, so as to prevent slipping of the finger or thumb, although it is obvious that said surface could be made perfectly smooth, if desired. As another means for guiding the knife within the slot and operating the same I may bend or turn the inner end of the knife upwardly at 18, Figs. 6 and 7 with a small projection 19 for extending upwardly through the slot either to be engaged by the finger-nail of the operator or else have the thumb-plate 15 fastened or secured thereto for the purpose of operating the knife in the same manner as explained in the first instance above. For enabling the inner end of the pin 12 to be upset and secured to the inner end of the knife by the employment of a suitable tool I provide the tube on the side opposite to the slot 10 with an opening 20. In this opening the end of a tool or punch may be placed against the end of the pin, and then by one slight blow upon the punch the pin is upset.

I have referred to the opening 5 hereinbefore in merely an incidental manner, but I will now proceed to explain the construction of the tube at the opening, by which I am enabled to provide for the severance or cutting off of a much larger portion of the tip of a cigar than with former devices wherein a tube of restricted size is employed. Hitherto it has been common to form an opening in one side of the tube only, or perhaps in both sides, (thetube being straight throughout) and this of course prevents the insertion of a cigar beyond a fixed or certain limit, owing to the restricted diameter of the tube, which necessarily limits the extent of opening therein, and, besides, the tip, when severed, always falls off on the inside of the tube and has to be afterward removed. By my construction of tube the tip dropson the outside, and there is less liability to clogging up the tube. Before forming the opening 5 I flatten the tube or press the two sides thereof quite close together at the proper point, and then I cut out a piece of the desired size and shape. In this way an opening is left which in one direction is equal in extent to the full inner di ameter of the straight portions of the tube, while in the other direction the said opening may either be also of this same diameter or it may be elongated, if desired. Thus it will be seen that I obtain a, larger-sized opening than can be obtained in a tube of restricted size and the sides of which are straight throughout. In fact the knife or cutter is of a width substantially equal to the inside diameter of the straight portions of the tube, and its thickness. is substantially equal to the space between the surrounding edge portions of the enlarged opening, so that said knife thus receives an additional guiding support as it is moved back and forth across the opening; and when the knife is drawn back within the tube the outer end maintains the space leading from the opening into the tube perfectly closed, and there is no liability of the tube clogging or filling with crumbs of dirt or small particles of tobacco. In the use of former devices 011 this subject embodying a straight tube throughout the width or diame- 'ter of the opening has necessarily been restricted to less than that of the tube, and the result has always been that enough of the tip of a cigar could not be projected into the opening without breaking or crushing the cigar. By my construction the double edges 23, formed by the two sides of the tube, serve to guide the sharpened or ground edges of the knife in such manner as to give a clean shearing cut with no liability of particles of the tobacco falling down into the tube.

From the foregoing description it is thought the construction and operations of my improved cutter will be thoroughly understood, and while I have herein illustrated certain preferred forms of the several parts it is apparent that various immaterial changes therein could be resorted to without departing from the general spirit or scope of the invention.

\Vithout limiting myself, therefore, to the precise details shown and described, I claim A eigar-cutter attachment comprising a tube of restricted diameter to fit the end of a lead-pencil or the like and compressed at a suitable point of its length to form a widened flattened portion and provided in said fiattened portion with an enlarged opening extending close to the edges thereof, and a movable knife or cutter working in said tube between the flattened sides and across the opening, substantially as shown and for the purposedescribed.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

MATIIILDE SOHOTT. \Vitnesses:

WILLIAM Scnorr, THEODORE SPETH. 

